"The film starts with a series of solid and steady drum beats and ends with a huge sensational 'bang'. The same is true of the visual experience and spiritual baptism brought by the whole work, which presents the process of artistic exploration and breakthrough in an orderly and step-by-step manner, and finally reaches perfection in an unparalleled shock!"

Variety's veteran film critic Stephen Hodden mentions the film's opening and ending, cutting into the "Burst Drummer" review with a unique perspective.

Strictly speaking, the film critic is not interested in Lan Li, and in the frenzy of Hollywood, Stephen has always maintained a relatively objective perspective. Although he has a lot of praise and performances, he refuses to put Lan Li on the altar - this is also the overall concept positioning of "Variety" magazine, but last year's "Drunken Country Ballad" made "Variety" rarely give Lan Li high praise, allowing people to see their insistence on film and art.

This time, Stephen was full of praise for the "Burst Drummer".

"The control and advancement of rhythm is undoubtedly the core meaning of the whole film, from the most straightforward and understandable drum kit, to the composition of the picture and light, to the connection and transition of the editing, and finally to the psychological changes of the characters, Damien Chazelle's use of jazz has reached the point of perfection, and it permeates the whole work layer by layer, which makes the camera reveal a sense of flowing rhythm of music, and brings a wonderful viewing experience in all aspects.

It's hard to praise 'Burst Drummer' in any cliché way, the control of rhythm and power has reached the level of a master, the fluid and gorgeous editing has a retro style of the Golden Age, and the interplay between plot and music, rhythm and rhythm is undoubtedly the most brilliant and unique part of the whole work.

The intertextuality between the beginning and the end, the rhythm throughout, also makes the uniqueness of 'Burst Drummer' carried forward.

Chazelle uses a story of exploring art and achieving breakthroughs to explore the choice of an artistic path: whether to choose to become an art master who died young and rebelled against his relatives, or to choose to become an ordinary person who enjoys his old age but no one knows about it? The film gives the answer through Andrew's story, and at the same time, it is also reflected on the three core creators, breaking the shackles of the dimensional wall and interpreting another layer of deep meaning in real life.

This has also become another layer of reflection after the end of the movie, and it also points out the soul of the whole movie: the actors.

Jazz art in the film and real-life performance art, two different forms of art, but in the process of self-exploration and self-breakthrough have many similarities, and can even be said to be the same way, which also makes the movie characters and real actors, there is a process of mutual echo and mutual influence, quietly breaking the virtual barriers established by the big screen, allowing the audience to feel the shock and baptism of artistic sublimation, the interweaving and dislocation of true and false, virtual and real, bringing an unprecedented viewing experience.

In 2010, a 'black swan' made the audience feel the pain and torment caused by the transformation of art, the struggle of almost splitting personality created a powerful psychological thriller, and Darren Aronofsky's control of the atmosphere gave the film a unique texture, but on the whole, Aronofsky still chose to settle on the psychological level, interpreting the confrontation and entanglement of the ego, the id, and the superego into a unique and wonderful texture, but also weakened the struggle of artistic breakthrough and artistic creation.

This time, in 'Burst Drummer', Chazelle focuses on the collision and breakthrough in the shackles of art, extending from the drum kit to the performance, through the tension between the two actors, creating an incomparable and difficult to replicate unique thinking space, so that the audience can deeply and directly, accurately and truly feel the tear and pain of the artistic breakthrough process, and then can truly feel the tension and weight of the soul in the process of artistic creation.

Although the directors and actors of the two works are very good, the excitement and vividness of the "Black Swan" fall more on the director, while the thickness and weight of the "Burst Drummer" shine more in the actor's position. This also gives the audience the privilege of seeing the two actors, Lance Hall and JK Simmons, sparkling rivalry on the big screen. ”

Objectively speaking, the story and core of "Burst Drummer" are not complicated, and the extension part worth exploring and studying is far less than the afterglow created by "Gravity" and "Drunken Country Ballad"; not because of the thinness of the script, but because of the purity of the connotation-

About the barriers and struggles of artistic creation, about the difficulties and persistence of artistic persistence, and about the pain and confusion of artistic dreams...... For most audiences, understanding is understanding, and one point is understood; if you don't understand, you don't understand, and it's in vain to say it.

It is conceivable that after the release of "Burst Drummer", there will inevitably be many viewers who will not be able to understand Fletcher's choice, and even more unable to understand Andrew's obsession, which is enough to cause a strong discomfort in the sense of morality, and they can find a thousand and ten thousand reasons to criticize Fletcher and Andrew, those so-called crazy moments are more just disgusting moments, just like the "parents" in the movie.

People will say that education should be "spring breeze and rain", that Fletcher is a madman, that life is always "countless choices", that Andrew is asking for his own suffering, and that such an experience is inhumane and unnecessary, and that Fletcher and Andrew are simply a neurotic that destroys human nature.

However, "people" do not understand the tragedy and poignancy of the moth to the fire.

In a way, this is similar to the "drunken country ballad". On the red carpet of the premiere, Lan Li once answered a reporter's related questions, he said, "Drunken Country Ballad" is a story about perseverance, and "Burst Drummer" is a story about breakthroughs, but in the final analysis, both works are stories about art.

The difference is that "Drunken Country Ballad" is mild, immersed in its own world and muttering to itself, which is also destined to be more acceptable to the masses, while "Burst Drummer" is intense, presenting that kind of gore in a crude and straightforward way, which can now show the polar reaction of a wide audience.

So I went back to the sentence, "If you don't understand, you don't understand, and if you understand, you understand."

It is precisely because of this that Stephen does not analyze the ideological connotation of the film too much, but discusses it from a technical level, and affirms Damien Chazelle's talent from all aspects, although this is Damien's second work, his ability and ideas have formed his own style, which is a very rare talent for a director.

In addition to this, Stephen also focused his commentary on the performance.

"JK Simmons, the audience's impression of this actor seems to be stuck in the editor-in-chief of the magazine who paid Peter Parker in 'Spider-Man', but obviously his ability and energy are far more than a small supporting role in a gag, in 'Burst Drummer' Playing the role of Fletcher, his free-flowing performance is light and soft, and the calmness and composure revealed in the camera scheduling can be reminiscent of Professor Hannibal in some moments, but it is more plain and more low-key, he looks like an ordinary person who can be knocked down.

This amiable image makes Fletcher more authentic, more human, and at the same time closer to the audience.

Simmons's performance keenly captures the reality of this human nature, no more but enough, enough to use these soft and fragile parts to set off the beastly rage and ferocity, and the bloody brutality revealed by those eyes creates a powerful impact of the Tyrannosaurus Rex opening its bloody mouth, crushing the attitude to control all the ants under the soles of the feet, and then bring deep fear to the audience, but at the same time do not lose the sense of reality.

It's one of the most impactful and powerful roles on the big screen in the last two years, and Simmons deserves to deliver a performance that has reached the pinnacle level of completion and excitement, giving the character of Fletcher incredible on-screen charm, and bursting between the story, the core, and the antagonist, and it is now asserted that this is bound to be one of the best performances of the whole year of 2014.

'The Silence of the Lambs' is the source of Professor Hannibal's iconic image of the screen for more than two decades, and Simmons' performance is comparable to that of Anthony Hopkins back then, but there is a fundamental difference between the two characters.

Professor Hannibal seems to be an unbeatable screen image, while Fletcher's screen image looks like it can be surpassed and beaten. This sense of realism creates a different kind of dramatic tension in the rivalry between the two characters in the film, which lays enough foundation for the beginning and end of the whole film, and it explodes in full swing in the final scene.

There is no doubt that the rivalry between Simmons and Hall is the highlight of the whole movie, and I can't help but think of the rivalry between Al Pacino and Robert De Niro in 'The Line of Fire'. Of course, this is not a correct side-by-side comparison, but the aura and momentum between the two actors are indeed wonderful!

Simmons's extraordinary play, assisted by a specific role, bloomed with radiant charm, and almost every audience could not take their eyes off Fletcher.

Back then, Anthony Hopkins only appeared for sixteen minutes in 'The Silence of the Lambs', but his performance was on par with Jodie Foster's, and now, in 'Burst Drummer', JK Simmons plays the role throughout, almost the leading role, which also makes his performance steal all attention.

This is the innate advantage of the role, and it is also the perfect play of the actor.

But the whole movie did not become Simmons' personal show, it was thanks to the excellent performance of another actor that gave the weak role a new vitality, and completely burst out the dramatic tension of this two-person turn, so that every audience truly understood the charm of the rival play, and then sublimated the core and soul of the whole movie, and all the focus still fell on this actor.

Blue Rite Hall. ”

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